Poll: What Was the Best Guitar Album of 1997?

The raw, minimalist approach taken up by the grunge bands of the Northwest in the early Nineties was still anchored by heavy guitars and high-gain amplification. But then pop-punk, ska, dub, seven-string instruments and super-low tunings sneaked into the mix. Finally embodying the literal sense of its name, "alternative rock" really was alternative to everything else, and increasingly undefinable.

For many, the birth of the new alternative was a cartoonish landscape that embraced an exorbitant number of styles and influences yet avoided artistic merit. For others, it was a time when the song got to stand front and center, beyond the bulking gloat of the singular rock star -- be it frontman or guitar hero.

None of this, however, makes it easy to qualify the late Nineties guitar album. And that's where you come in.

Take a look at the list of albums below and vote for your favorite guitar record from 1997.

Comments

Hey, CD
As I mentioned, it got hard around '96/'97 to really define the "guitar album." Sometimes having guitar on the album isn't quite enough. That being said, I did add Limp Bizkit to the list.
Despite what anyone may think of them now, Wes Borland was -- or seemingly trying to -- expanding the guitar's vocabulary. So I'll give you that.
Thanks for bringing these artists to attention, Chris.

You forgot to list The Offspring's Ixnay on the Hombre, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones' Let's Face It, Everclear's So Much for the Afterglow, Limp Bizkit's Three Dollar Bill Y'all and Third Eye Blind's self-title debut, which are some of my favorite albums of 1997 and I'd like to see them get some recognition. I don't mind if any of them don't appear on the poll, I'd vote for Americana when you do 1998 anyway or Conspiracy of One when you do 2000, I know The Offspring still became popular with those albums.